1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to image processing systems and in particular to a method and apparatus for processing medical image data in a network environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Medical diagnostic imaging allows radiologists to perform diagnosis of many types of injury and disease by imaging various internal body parts. For example, radiologists utilize diagnostic imaging to visualize organs in the abdomen, the chest cavity, the brain and central nervous system, the musculoskeletal system, and other body parts. Diagnostic imaging may be used to detect potential cancer abnormalities; bone densitometry; joint, bone, or soft tissue injuries; and many other types of diseases. Presently, diagnostic imaging includes many different imaging modalities such as x-rays, ultrasound, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and nuclear medicine to name but a few.
Traditionally, almost all diagnostic imaging was film based. An image was recorded on a physical piece of film that had to be developed, provided to the physician for viewing, reviewed by the physician, and recorded and stored in an archive. Often there was a significant time delay between the taking of the image and the physician reviewing the image. In addition, the storage of film images required a large physical space and associated record keeping. If a physician needed to refer to a patient's stored records, the film images needed to be physically found, retrieved, and provided to the physician. Often there was a significant time delay in this process as well.
To address these issues, diagnostic imaging technology has advanced and medical diagnostic imaging has shifted from a film based system to a digitally based system in which diagnostic images are recorded, transferred, viewed, and stored electronically. Several types of digital imaging modalities, such as computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging generate a large number of images during each diagnostic examination that are then combined to form a three-dimensional volume image. One examination can generate between twenty and one hundred images or more. The processing of the large number of image files to render a single fused image is time consuming, so that a technician typically performs the image fusion prior to the fused image being provided to the radiologist for review. In some instances, the image formed by the technician is not exactly what the radiologist needed and the determination is made that other images are necessary. The time delay between taking the image and the review by the doctor or radiologist may thus be considerable. Thus, the patient may be required to return at a later time for more images to be taken, or the patient may be required to wait until the radiologist has reviewed the images and made a determination as to whether more images are needed. In either case, the patient is required to be subjected to further inconvenience.